tax-exempt

[taks-ig-zempt]

adjective

1. not subject or liable to taxation.

   tax-exempt imports.

2. providing income that is not taxable.

   tax-exempt municipal bonds.

noun

1. a tax-exempt security.

tax-exempt

adjective

1. (of an income or property) exempt from taxation

2. (of an asset) earning income that is not subject to taxation

Word History and Origins

Origin of tax-exempt¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

From this perspective, the fight over the Johnson Amendment is no longer about hypothetical infractions but about whether tax-exempt status for churches and religious organizations is, in effect, subsidizing a specific political movement.

Read more on Salon

Previously, churches risked losing their tax-exempt status by discussing or engaging in politics.

Read more on Salon

As an assemblyman, he introduced a bill to end the tax-exempt status of New York charities with ties to Israeli settlements that violate international human rights law.

Read more on BBC

For the stagflation concern, diversification with tax-exempt bonds with attractive tax-equivalent yields is wise.

Read more on Barron's

Remember when the Obama administration’s Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative nonprofits over their tax-exempt status—with the intent to limit speech it didn’t like?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal